Stay Tuned: ‘The Fix’ reframes a familiar story

Melissa Crawley More Content Now

Tuesday

Mar 12, 2019 at 10:36 AMMar 12, 2019 at 10:36 AM

On cable, it’s the return of a fan favorite, while broadcast channels and streaming services premiere new dramas.

Dispatches: Weekly TV newsLifetime’s “Patsy & Loretta” will focus on music legend Patsy Cline and country music icon Loretta Lynn and is set to star Megan Hilty (“Smash”) as Cline and Grammy-winner Jessie Mueller as Lynn. Oscar-winning writer Callie Khouri, who created the series “Nashville,” will direct.

James Bond is kicking off spring on Paramount Network. The week-long “007 Mission Marathon” starts March 18.

Four years ago, The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation (TCLFF) created the first university scholarship endowment named after a television show. The Big Bang Theory Scholarship Endowment at UCLA originally funded five annual scholarships for undergraduate students in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). To celebrate the end of the TV series, which is May 16, TCLFF has doubled its endowment.

Contenders: Shows to keep on your radar“Project Runway” (March 14, 8 p.m. ET/PT) is making it work on its original network, Bravo, with new host Karlie Kloss, new mentor Christian Siriano (I’ll miss you Tim Gunn!) and two new judges.

“Shrill” (March 15, Hulu) stars Aidy Bryant (“SNL”) as Annie, an overweight woman who wants to change her life but not her body all while managing bad boyfriends, a sick parent and a challenging boss. Based on Lindy West’s book “Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman,” the show’s premise - a shy, fat woman learns to assert herself, is lifted by Bryant’s strong performance.

Kansas City gets a taste of the Fab Five in the third season premiere of “Queer Eye” (March 15, Netflix). Antoni, Bobby, Jonathan, Karamo and Tan return to transform the fashion challenged with their likeable brand of self-love.

Will the uneasy alliance of Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff) hold as they work to destroy their enemies? Find out on the season four premier of “Billions” (March 17, Showtime, 9 p.m. ET/PT).

New drama “The Fix” (March 18, ABC, 8 p.m. ET/PT) follows L.A. district attorney Maya Travis (Robin Tunney) who returns to her former office to prosecute a murderous movie star who she failed to win a conviction against eight years earlier. The character is not unlike Marcia Clark, who is often associated with the failed prosecution of O.J. Simpson, which makes sense because Clark is executive producer and co-writer.

Neighbors as family is the theme of NBC’s new drama “The Village” (March 19, 10 p.m. ET/PT). The action focuses on a group of people who live in the same Brooklyn apartment building.

Rob Lowe hits the small screen to host a new competition series that focuses on mental agility. Contestants on “Mental Samurai” (March 19, Fox, 9 p.m. ET/PT) must answer questions correctly in categories of knowledge, memory, puzzles and sequencing while being physically transported in a capsule around the show’s set at high speeds. To spice things up, the capsule is capable of rotating 360 degrees.

Report Card: A look at ratings winners and losersWinners: “The Blacklist” has been renewed for a seventh season.

Losers: Showtime has cancelled “SMILF.” The rest of the second season will continue to air through the series finale on March 31. Melissa Crawley is the author of “Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President on Television’s ‘The West Wing.’” She has a Ph.D. in media studies and is a member of the Television Critics Association. To comment on Stay Tuned, email her at staytuned@outlook.com or follow her on Twitter at @mcstaytuned.

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